#LifeUpdate

Wow, it’s been awhile. Sorry I let it get this bad, guys. Let’s play catchup!

To do that, let me take you back to a few weeks ago. I had just gotten home from Tokyo, I was tired, I was worn down, and I was ready for the next trip. I hadn’t even unpacked my suitcase and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I was going to do next.

The only issue was that my next weekend was completely empty. I had nothing planned, nothing booked, and nobody to go with; everyone already had plans or was planning on staying home. I tried doing some digging to see what interesting daytrips I could take from Singapore, but it was starting to think that I wasn’t going to be doing anything too exciting.

If you don’t want to click the link, the title is “10 Reasons for Solo Travel in Hong Kong (Even Solo Female Travelers).” A lot of it was about how awesome Hong Kong is, which they didn’t need to convince me of. However, it also talked a lot about how safe and easy to navigate the city was. I dug a little deeper and sure enough, other sites listed Hong Kong as being one of the safest cities in Asia, right behind Singapore.

Hong Kong had been on my list since day one, but nobody else seemed interested, so I had assumed I would have to skip it. I knew this would be my only chance, so I took it.

The flight wasn’t as cheap as I had hoped, but it was decent considering I booked it three days before I flew. I booked two nights in a backpackers hostel for the cheapest you could find. And I did it safely: I can assure you, no one was harmed in the making of this blog post (except maybe my mother, who I didn’t talk to before booking anything).

I was in Hong Kong for two days and two nights, which isn’t much, but I managed to squeeze a lot in! The first day I explored most of the city. I got in way early in the morning and had to wait around for a little while for the markets to open, and I took a tour of the Flower Market, which was just as beautiful as it sounds.

I also managed to make it to the Bird Garden, which is kind of like a bird market but collectors will also bring their pet birds just for display, and the whole area is set in a peaceful garden. After that, I did some wandering around. I figured out the metro system, which ended up being just as easy as I was told it would be. I wandered in and out of shops, as well as a few temples. I also stumbled on a flower show that I didn’t know existed; this thing was huge.

I also took the Star Ferry across the water and managed to make it to the best view for the Symphony of Lights show that they do on the waterfront every night. I told my mom about it, and through the power of magic she got to watch it with me! (They do a live stream of it on their website every night). Most pictures of the harbor turned out super blurry, but you can find some in the gallery.

Day 2 I ventured out from the city and onto the neighboring islands to see the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. We bonded, as you can see from the above picture. However, there was also some other things lurking on the island.

I wish I was kidding. But I’m not.

Wild bison were just kind of walking around the entire monastery. They were like deer, except a lot more chill. They didn’t mind people being near them, even touching them (which most people, including myself, tried and succeeded in doing). They sometimes even would confront people that they thought had food in hopes that they could take some of it. They seemed like gentle giants, but they also lingered in a way that made me a little weary. I got some good pics and got to pet their fur, but after that I kept my distance.

After that, I meandered over to Tai O, a small village just a short bus ride from the monastery that is famous for their stilt houses built right along the bay. I didn’t spend too much time here, but I did spend enough to get a good lunch and have a “relaxing” boat right around the stilt houses and out into the bay.

That night, I took the tram right up to Victoria Peak, a high point in the city that gives you a great view. However, the fog made it nearly impossible to take photos, so I’ll leave the one that did come out to the gallery.

I feel like I’m cutting this description super super short. This makes me upset, but it’s my own fault for only making this a catchup post. I promise I won’t try to squeeze this much into one post again!

Onto the second important thing that’s happened. If you’ve looked on my social media, you may have noticed that my super wonderful and amazing boyfriend came all the way from Buffalo, NY to come see me on his spring break.

I’ve been living in Singapore for 3 months now, and seeing it with him made it feel like I was seeing it all over again. We did lots of things I’ve done already, like a visit to the Night Safari, the ArtScience Museum, a picnic in Chinese Gardens, and sight-seeing in general. But we also did some new things for me, like going to the Gardens by the Bay and the aquarium at Sentosa. And then, of course, this.

I booked one night on a Wednesday. I had to skip class, but I think this should count as a valid excuse: for being the best boyfriend in the world, he deserved something luxurious. He had no idea until we checked in; he thought I was looking for the MRT so we could head back to campus. Little did he know that I had already packed an extra pair of clothes for him and his bathing suit. One night in the Marina Bay Sands, as well as dinner at Spago by Wolfgang Puck, right on the top of the Marina Bay Sands. Easily the fanciest place that either of us had eaten at. They served us butter for our bread on a marble plate. We had Braised Lamb as an appetizer, I ordered the Oxtail Ragu, he ordered the Monkfish. And of course you can’t have dinner without a few cocktails beforehand, especially when the bar overlooks the Infinity Pool 🙂

Of course, not everything was luxurious. I lost my wallet at the Night Safari. A whole day was eaten up just by trying to sort out all the stuff that I lost: canceling credit cards, applying for a new student pass, filling out a police report, etc. The stress that gave me is definitely something I regret, because that was time wasted that we could’ve used having fun and enjoying our time even more. But overall, the week was amazing, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world 🙂 (and everything worked out anyways, and my wallet is very close to being rebuilt!).